


we've been dating for years

by blxrryfxcxd



Category: All Time Low (Band)
Genre: Blind Date, Boys In Love, Established Relationship, First Kiss, Flashbacks, M/M, kind of, this is an old fic i wrote, well it goes back in time a bit
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2021-02-20
Updated: 2021-02-20
Packaged: 2021-03-12 16:54:16
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 8,812
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/29512794
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/blxrryfxcxd/pseuds/blxrryfxcxd
Summary: Jack and Alex have been dating for a while.Their parents are oblivious, and keep trying to set them up.
Relationships: Jack Barakat/Alex Gaskarth
Kudos: 9





	we've been dating for years

**Author's Note:**

> this is based off a tumblr prompt. i wrote this about 3 years ago, so definitely not my best work, however i've been editing it a lot recently, so hopefully it's better than what it was.
> 
> i've never written a jalex fic on ao3 before, so let me know what you think?

Jack and Alex had been dating for a while now. To be more specific, they've been together about three - nearly four - years. They're not exactly hiding their relationship, but no one in their families seem to have noticed yet. Or caught them making out in one of their bedrooms. That's strange - they expected to get caught. Especially over the course of three years. But do you know what makes this even weirder? When their parents keep trying to set them up. Every time they go on dates, they make a point of telling each other how many times their parents have tried to get them to go on 'blind dates'. Most of the time, they've been asked about four or five times each week. You'd think they'd get tired of it, but honestly, they find it more funny than they find it annoying. However, both of them have noticed that they've started to get asked less and less. 

"I think they might have got the gist that we're just going to decline their offer every time, now." Alex suggested, after both boys had realised that neither of them had been asked to go on blind dates that week. 

"Probably." Jack agreed, smiling slightly. "Took them a damn long time, though."

Neither of them know why they never told their parents. They started dating when they were seventeen, and they graduated after a year. They originally didn't say anything about their relationship because they weren't sure about how their parents would react - what if they were homophobic? What if Jack and Alex weren't allowed to see each other outside of school anymore? That's understandable, right? But now, they're sure that their parents are okay with it. They still haven't told them - and they don't know why. 

Alex moved into his own apartment when he turned eighteen, but Jack still lives with his parents. Some nights, Jack sleeps around Alex's, but their parents never question it - it's almost like the high school sleepovers never stopped. Obviously, both boys are eighteen now - their parents don't care what they do (as long as it's not illegal). They're not _obvious_ , but sometimes, the boys wonder how their parents haven't picked up that they're dating.

To be entirely honest, the main reason why they haven't told anyone in their families is because it's entertaining. They find it funny that their parents try to set them up when they're already together. They'd planned to tell their parents when they'd been dating for a year (they could move out more easily when they were eighteen, if anything were to go wrong), but that never happened. When Jack turned eighteen, his parents really wanted him to get a girlfriend or boyfriend (he'd already come out to them as bisexual after he graduated, but he just hadn't told them he was dating Alex). They'd tried to get Jack to go on so many blind dates, but of course, he declined every time.

Alex and Jack found out that their parents wanted them to go on blind dates together when Jack went to Alex's apartment and found out that Alex's brother, Tom, had been texting him about a blind date he wanted Alex to go on. Jack made fun of Alex for a bit, mentioning his own experiences with his parents wanting him to go on a date with a random stranger (as far as he was aware), before realising that they'd started to be asked the same day. The boys joked about it being suspicious, but they didn't really think anything of it. It wasn't until Jack heard his parents and sister talking about it in the kitchen one time. It was actually pretty amusing.

\-----

_*Two years ago*_

_"I don't understand why he won't go on any of these dates? Surely he has to be lonely, right? He needs to get a partner, seriously! He's eighteen. He should've dated plenty of people by now!" Jack's sister, May, ranted. Jack wanted to laugh. He had a boyfriend, obviously, just one that none of his family knew about. Also, Jack was pretty sure that May doesn't know how dating and relationships work. Jack doesn't recall her going on any dates - but she was fifteen, so Jack didn't really expect her to have gone on one. Jack was eighteen, and he'd dated three people. Tay, Ryan, and Alex. He was lucky that none of them had ended on bad terms (obviously, his and Alex's had never ended) - even he had to admit that he was a handful sometimes, God knows how Alex has put up with him this long. Jack was still friends with Tay and Ryan though, so it's all good._

_"May, that's not how dating works. Jack has probably been in a relationship or two, and maybe been on dates with other people, but he just didn't tell us because they didn't work out, or they weren't an official couple or anything. Just because he's an adult now, doesn't mean he's been on hundreds of dates." My mum told May. The latter nodded, but still looked as if she didn't quite believe her mother. She was probably thinking about how most of the people at her school have been on tons of dates. Honestly, Jack was never really interested in dating until he turned fifteen, then he had the short-lived relationships with Ryan and Tay, went on a few dates with different people, and then started dating Alex a year ago._

_"Okay, maybe so, but why don't you let him find people on his own? Maybe him and Alex just want to stay best friends. If they were going to catch feelings for each other, they already would've by now, right? Do you have to set them up? May asked. Well, that confirmed the boys' suspicions - their parents were trying to set Alex and Jack up. After finding that out, Jack wasn't even mad, he just found it funny. He decided to go and tell Alex, so he ran to the front door, grabbed his leather jacket, and put his shoes on._

_"I'm going to Alex's! See you soon, I'll be back by ten!" Jack shouted from the hallway to the kitchen, as if he'd been upstairs the whole time, and hadn't heard the conversation currently taking place. Jack heard his mother shout something back about him being home by eleven, and to text her if he planned to stay the night - if he was being honest, Jack wasn't really listening. He knew he'd be back by then. If there was one thing that Jack was good at, it was sticking to his curfews. He didn't want to be grounded - yes, he may be eighteen, but while he was living with his parents, he was going to abide by their rules, they really weren't that strict. Being grounded is not fun, and Jack wouldn't recommend testing out that theory to anyone. Even if they liked being in their room more than anything, it always happens to be the week when their friends would be making plans. Climbing out of the window at two in the afternoon while trying to make sure that no one else notices isn't fun - Jack could tell anyone that. Personal experience and all._

\-----

"Hey, we should go on a proper date again." Alex suggested. He and Jack were sitting on the former's couch, watching Adventure Time. Jack nodded as a reply, completely engrossed in the TV. Alex waved his hand in front of Jack's face. "Jack, give me attention!" Alex pouted slightly, which made Jack smile. He finally looked across to Alex, switching off the TV.

"There, you have my complete, full attention." Jack said, fully turning to face Alex now. "Also, we definitely should go on a proper date again. Hey, how about we go on one of those 'blind dates' out parents keep trying to set us up on." Jack laughed, not being entirely serious. Although, after thinking about it for a minute, he came to the conclusion that it's not that bad of an idea. Alex raised his eyebrows at the suggestion, but Jack just shrugged as a response. "Come on, it'll be funny! We won't have to pay for the food. At least, that's what my parents always say to me." Jack said, trying to persuade Alex. The latter seemed to think for a minute, before finally replying. 

"You know what? We should. When was the last time they asked us if we wanted to go on one?" Alex asked. Jack shrugged his shoulders, it had got a lot less recently, and neither of them really kept track anymore. "Do you reckon we could just ask them to set us up on one? We could just say something like 'you know what? I'm kind of interested in going on one of those dates you keep trying to set up for me.' They'd probably jump at the opportunity to set one up, to be honest." Alex continued.

"That sounds good. But we couldn't say the same thing on the same day - they'd definitely get suspicious then." Jack said, thinking for a second before coming up with a possible solution to that. "I could tell my parents that I'm interested on going on one when I get home, and they should probably get the hint from that. If they don't, you could hint at being bored and lonely. That should work."

"Yeah, let's do that. Anyways, going off topic, are you having dinner with your parents? If you are, it's five-thirty now, so you should probably get back home soon. If not, we can get a Chinese or something. I don't mind, I'm just wondering." Alex said, sitting up a little. Jack would much rather have dinner with Alex - even though he would never say this, from fear of being too cheesy, he loved spending time with Alex more than anyone else - but at the same time, Jack wanted to kick-start the 'plan' (if you could even call it that) that they had been talking about a few minutes prior.

"Any other day, I'd stay. To be honest, though, I'd much rather go on a 'blind' date with you sooner than later." Jack replied, making finger quotes when he said the word 'blind'. Alex laughed, standing up. Jack got up a few seconds later, following his boyfriend to the door. Jack grabbed his jacket, kissed Alex goodbye, and told Alex that he would call him later. Alex nodded, and gave Jack one last hug.

\-----

When Jack got home twenty minutes later, his parents were surprised to actually see that he'd come home before dinner. Usually, he'd tell them that he'd have dinner with them, but then forget he'd told them that and end up having dinner at Alex's apartment instead. The weird thing was, however, that his parents always made enough food so that Jack could have some. Even when Jack told them he wasn't coming home for dinner. He didn't understand why they did that - even after a couple of years. If Jack had kids, he certainly wouldn't make them food if they'd told him that they weren't eating at home.

"You're not staying at Alex's for dinner tonight?" Jack's mum asked as he walked into the kitchen.

"No. He did offer, but I already told myself that I'd eat with you guys tonight, so I came home." Jack replied. Not quite the true story - Jack thought that a Chinese takeaway sounded amazing right about now, but he really wanted to go on a date with Alex where neither of them had to pay for food - they were both broke college students.

"Fair enough. Anyways, can you call May downstairs? Dinner's pretty much ready." With that, Jack went upstairs and somehow managed to drag May away from a FaceTime call with her friends. Jack could almost swear that she was always on call. He could wake up at three in the morning and May would be calling her friends. Jack understood that she wanted to talk to her friends, but she sees them almost everyday. Jack knew that it was better that she had friends than if she had none at all. Hearing her joke around with her friends was much better than Jack coming home and seeing her in tears because she doesn't have anyone at school to talk to.

"I have a job interview after college tomorrow, so I'll be home a couple of hours later. Around seven, maybe? I'm not sure. I might just get a McDonald's on my way home, so don't worry about cooking me anything." Jack started. He didn't want it to be too suspicious. Although, his parents seem to be completely oblivious as it is. "Actually, do you think you could set me up on one of those blind dates you keep trying to get me to go on? It might be fun after college and then an interview straight afterwards."

"To be honest with you, I thought he'd never fucking ask." May laughed, turning to face her and Jack's parents. Their parents laughed too, but not before their mother had uttered a 'watch your language, young lady' to May. Jack just sighed and struggled to keep in a laugh. Jack honestly thought that his family's laughs were contagious.

"Yes, Jack, we'll try and sort one out for tomorrow. It should be possible, as long as the other person says yes. They've been saying no to their parents every time they've been asked too, though. So don't get your hopes up." Jack's mother explained. It was obvious that she was trying her best to not give Jack any clues about who it was, but, of course, Jack already knew who she was talking about.

"Yeah, they're pretty much dead set on not going on a date with you. Must be your face." May said, attempting to be funny.

"We literally have the same face, May." Jack replied, laughing, despite this not being that funny.

"Yes, but it looks better on me."

"If you say so." Jack and May's 'arguments' always ended like this, because neither of them wanted it to get as far as insulting each other to the point where it actually offends the other person. For siblings, May and Jack were very close, so they didn't tend to get into any major arguments with each other. Their parents always found it odd, because siblings are supposed to argue. Yes, they shouted at each other all the time when they were younger, but by the time May turned thirteen, she'd grown out of her irritating phase, and Jack had grown out of his 'always angry' phase, and they started to get on really well. Jack knows their parents were relieved - they were scared that May and Jack would never get on, and that there'd be constant yelling between them. But there wasn't. So that was a relief for their parents.

\-----

 ***New message!*  
From 'lex: ** _see you tonight ;)_

From that message, Jack assumed that his parents had arranged the date. He dropped Alex a few emojis back, and sat nervously waiting for his interview to start. At least he had a date with his boyfriend later. If this whole interview was a complete disaster, he had that to look forward to. Jack told himself that the interview would be fine, it was only an interview for a record shop. All he needed to do was explain to the interviewer how he would deal with angry customers named Karen who wanted to talk to the manager. At least, that's what Alex had told Jack interviews were like.

\-----

"How'd the interview go?" Jack's mum asked as soon as he walked in the door. Jack jumped, obviously not expecting her to be right behind the door. To be honest, Jack realised, she had probably been sitting in the hallway since half-past six, just to ask him that question as soon as he walked in. 

"I think it went well. The interviewer guy seemed to be happy with my answers, it just depends if anyone else gives better responses, seems more enthusiastic, or is just a more confident person, i guess." Jack replied.

"Well done, I'm proud of you. When do you find out if you've got the job?"

"Thank you. I should find out within the next month or so. The guy said they're still taking applications for another couple of weeks, so once everyone's been interviewed, they can make the decision." Jack surprised himself with how much he remembered. Everything had seemed like a blur for him - the whole half an hour. He couldn't even remember half of the questions he'd been asked, let alone his responses, so remembering the information he'd been given was, well, an achievement to say the least.

"Okay, that's good. However, you need to get ready for your date now. It's only at Olive Garden, so don't wear anything too fancy, but make sure it's nice and smart!"

"First of all, that's more expensive than I was expecting. The only meal I can afford is a McDonald's happy meal. Second of all, I really wasn't planning on wearing anything fancier than jeans and a jacket." After all, Jack thought, it was only with Alex - he wouldn't care what Jack wore. He'd seen him shirtless, in dirty sweatpants, and hair sticking in all directions. Whatever Jack wore, Alex wouldn't be the one judging him.

"Jack, I've told you before, both sets of parents will split the bill for this date. If you go on any more after this one though, we're not paying - that's on you."

"Fair enough. Thank you."

"No problem. Now go shower and get dressed. You have an hour before we leave. Also, if anything does go wrong during the date, we'll be on the other side of the restaurant."

"I'll be fine, but again, thank you." Jack loved his mother. She'd always been there for him, looking out for him. Even though he knew he'd be fine. Jack decided he probably should go and get ready. He jumped in the shower, and made sure not to take too long. His parents were always complaining that he took ten years in there. He just ended up thinking a lot, so he's in there forever - sometimes an hour or so. He already knew what he was going to wear, he'd planned his outfit to keep himself distracted while he was waiting for his interview. He put on some ripped black jeans and a dark blue button-down shirt, before taking his leather jacket from the back of his chair and grabbing his phone off his desk. He headed downstairs, and, knowing that he had ten or so minutes before they had to leave, started texting Alex. Once Alex had left, Jack went onto Instagram. People from college were posting pictures of them moving into their new houses. Jack still lived off his parents' wages. He felt bad about it, but his parents didn't care as long as he gets good grades. They wanted Jack to study hard and get a good job, and to be honest, Jack wanted that too. Alex had already said that once they told their parents they were dating, Jack could move in with him. Jack would move in right now - he loved the thought of waking up to Alex every single day, damn - but the couple had wanted to keep the joke up as long as possible. Jack didn't know if they planned to tell both sets of parents tonight, but Jack assumed that they probably would - it'd be the perfect opportunity. It would be funny.

Ten minutes passed pretty quickly, so Jack tied up his shoes and sat in the back of the car with May. If Jack was being honest, he thought that the whole ride was hell. His mother was going on and on about etiquette, and his dad was constantly reminding him what he expected from me ("don't be rude, if you think it isn't working, excuse yourself and then come and tell us," etc.). Jack kept trying to tell them that he'd be fine, he wouldn't be rude, he knew how to eat at a restaurant, but they just kept going on and on about it. In the end, May told them that they'd repeated themselves multiple times now, and that even she was getting tired of it - and they weren't even talking to her. Their parents stopped talking so much after that, and just told Jack that whatever happened, he was there to have fun. Don't let it be awkward. Once again, Jack told them that it would be fine, he'd work it out, and by the time that conversation ended, they were at the restaurant.

"Jack, you need to go and sit at the table five rows from the front, on the right." Jack's father said to him. "We'll be a few rows behind and on the left, okay?" Did they really think it was going to be that bad? They did know that it's _Alex_ , right? The same Alex that Jack had been friends with for twelve years? They know Alex well enough to know that it won't be awkward between us. Even it if was on a date that 'we weren't expecting.' That's what they thought it was, but Jack knew that he couldn't tell them that he actually knew it was Alex. Jack did what his father had said, and sat at the table, facing Alex, who was looking out of the window.

"Fancy seeing you here." Jack laughed, startling Alex.

"Wha- Oh, hey." Alex smiled. He looked at where both sets of parents were sitting, seeing that they were ordering drinks, and then turned back to Jack. "They're probably going to be watching us the whole time. Act like we usually would, and then we'll, like, make out or something outside at the end of the evening. If that's okay with you?" Alex had this big smile on his face. Jack thought he was adorable - he couldn't help but grin in response.

"Good plan. I was gonna ask you if we were going to tell them we'd been dating tonight."

"Honestly, the best thing about this is going to be their reactions. I want to record it. Or get someone else to record it."

"I can text May and she can record it, if you want?"

"She knows we're together?"

"Well, no, not yet."

"Explain to her that we've just been trying to prank our parents for three or so years, and then tell her what our plan is. But, uh, don't text her right now, they're watching us again."

"Damn. _They'll_ be the ones recording in a minute." Jack sighed. Alex just laughed.

"That's true." After that, Jack and Alex ordered drinks and food. By now, they both knew each other's orders without even having to ask the other.

"You know, this is kind of uncomfortable with them watching us. They've probably put a microphone somewhere. Jesus Christ." Alex rolled his eyes.

"Come on, 'Lex, cut them some slack. They've wanted to see this date happen for like, two years." Jack said. "I wasn't intending it to sound serious, but that's probably what they're feeling right now."

"That's actually kind of sad." Alex stated, nodding in agreement.

"Now that you say it, it is. It's also kind of funny. They've been trying to set us up since we were eighteen. We're twenty now. That's some dedication."

"I don't think I could ship people for that long without giving up."

"Alex, you shipped Harry Styles and Louis Tomlinson for five years straight."

"Jack, we don't speak of that."

"We do now." Jack smirked.

"If we weren't in a restaurant with out parents watching right now, I'd kiss that smirk right off your face."

"You can't live down your slightly worrying One Direction phase."

"Yes I can."

"Not as long as I'm around."

"I'm just gonna have to get rid of you then, aren't I?"

"Yep! But please don't."

"yep! but please don't."

"I could never."

"Good."

Jack and Alex ate in a comfortable silence for a bit, just enjoying each other's company. They hadn't really been on a proper date for a while, so this was especially nice for them. Although their parents were constantly watching them, they were both happier than they had been in a couple of months. They enjoyed themselves. Jack made a mental note to take Alex on dates more frequently. They didn't have to be expensive, just somewhere outside the four walls of Alex's apartment or Jack's bedroom. Preferably somewhere that Jack could stare at Alex for as long as possible. Jack thought Alex was so unbelievably pretty.

"What are you thinking about?" Alex looked at Jack with a questioning look.

"Just about how I should take you on dates more often. This is just... really nice? If you know what I mean. I kind of didn't realise how much our dates meant to me. I don't know, maybe I'm being silly. This just makes me happy, you know?" Jack replied. "Fuck, I love you."

"I love you too." Alex replied quietly, his cheeks a little pink. He always blushed when Jack said that. To be honest, Jack always had heat rushing to his cheeks too. They'd said 'I love you' so many times now, but that one had felt different to both of them. It felt more special than usual. Jack felt his phone buzz in his pocket. He ignored it for a minute, before it went off about ten times, and then he looked at his messages. "Your phone going off too?" Alex asked. Jack nodded.

 ***New message!*  
From mayday: ** _yikes you made him blush well done_

 ***New message!*  
From life giver: ** _T_ _he silence wasn't good, but you're doing okay._

 ***New message!*  
From old man: ** _I_ _know your mother and sister are texting you, but please get off your phone._

"They're telling me what to do. Great." Jack said, laughing a little.

"They really haven't given up watching us, have they?" Alex sighed.

"Doesn't seem like it."

The rest of the date went well. Jack and Alex just sat and chatted about normal things, joking around a little. Both of them felt a little weird, due to their parents watching pretty much their every move, but other than that, it was enjoyable.

"Hey, can you text May and just just ask her to film us? I kind of want to surprise her too." Alex smiled. Alex and May were pretty close - he'd become almost like another older brother to her. He'd been present for pretty much all of her life. She couldn't remember a time when Alex wasn't there. To be honest, Jack would like to keep it that way. They were nearly finished eating, so Jack discretely texted May under the table, so that his parents didn't think he was being rude by 'texting at the table.' That was one of the major things they'd told him not to do - even though they'd been texting him throughout the evening.

 **To mayday:** _hey, can you record alex and i when you guys walk out of the restaurant? don't ask questions ;)_

 **From mayday:** _sure. seriously, what are you up to?_

**_read 8:35pm_ **

**From mayday:** _fuck you_

**_read 8:36pm_ **

"Done. She's asking questions though." Jack glanced over at May, who was glaring at him. Jack just laughed at her expression, before turning back to Alex. He was staring at Jack. "What?"

"Nothing. I just love your laugh." Alex shook his head and smiled.

"Well, I love you."

"I love you too, Jack." The boys smiled at each other for a few seconds, before Alex spoke up again. "We should probably pay now." He sighed. Jack just rolled his eyes at him.

"Our parents are paying tonight, remember? Your wallet is safe." Jack replied, causing Alex to laugh.

"I forgot about that."

"How? They've been staring at us for the last hour and a half."

"True, true. I still forgot they were paying though. What do we do then? Just leave?"

"I guess so? God, Alex, we're supposed to be functioning adults."

"Damn. We suck at that."

"We really do."

"Anyways, back to the point. Do we just leave?"

"Let's just go. I'm sure our parents have filled the staff in on all the details." Jack rolled his eyes again, and Alex shrugged, agreeing with Jack. He reached across the table, signalling for Jack to take his hand. Jack happily took hold of it, and they left the restaurant. They walked down the road for a minute or two, before slowing down. "Well first of all, there are no waiters or waitresses chasing us, so that's good. Secondly, I feel like a child, waiting for our parents just catch up."

"God, me too." Alex sighed, but smiled nonetheless. "You know - this is a cliché line - but tonight was really fun. I've kind of missed doing something like that. I mean, being with you anywhere is great, but I just, miss this? I don't know if that made sense."

"Yes, it made sense. I miss this too. We'll go on more dates more often, then." Jack smiled at Alex, and he nodded.

"We should." Alex suddenly looked up and over Jack's shoulder, and whispered to him. "Okay, parents are walking over now, May has her phone out, so I can only assume she's filming. Kiss me?"

"You don't need to ask me twice." Jack smirked, and Alex just tolled his eyes in response, before pulling Jack in for a kiss. Jack put his hands on Alex's waist, and the latter wrapped his hands around Jack's neck.

"Ew! I do _not_ want a porno on my phone, thank you very much." May made a noise that sounded like pure disgust, so Alex and Jack broke apart and started laughing. This went on for a while, and by the time they stopped, Jack was wiping tears from his eyes, and as he turned to face Alex, Jack realised he was doing the same. 

"I'm pretty sure we said that you're not supposed to make out with someone on the first date, but okay." Jack's mum said, shaking her head.

"Really though, what did you expect from two horny teenage boys?" Alex's mum replied, rolling her eyes.

"We're in our twenties." Alex and Jack replied at the same time, causing us to laugh once again.

"Jack, I'm still recording this. Can you tell me why, exactly? I'm running out of storage here." May interrupted the conversation. Jack looked at Alex and raised his eyebrows.

"Yeah, about that." Jack started. "We should probably tell you guys something."

"The date went well? We know. I told you that mothers are good match-makers." Alex's mum said. The boys looked at each other, and once again started laughing.

"I-" Alex tried to talk through his laughter. Needless to say, it didn't work. "Let's try that again." Alex took a deep breath to stop himself from laughing at their parents' remarks. "We've been dating for years. This is no way our first date." Their parents - and May - looked shocked at that.

"What? How did we not know this? _W_ _hy_ did we not know this?" May asked the questions on everyone's (excluding Jack and Alex's) minds.

"We've been dating since we were seventeen. Neither of us had actually come out to any of you yet, so we decided to keep it quiet. Alex and I always used to complain to each other when you would try and set up dates for both of us - we thought that they were completely separate to each other. When we graduated high school, we were going to tell you, but we realised that you'd been trying to set us up on those blind dates _together_. But - and I don't know why - we found that hilarious. So, we decided to keep the fact that we were dating a secret from you. Then yesterday, Alex and I were talking about going on a date again, because we haven't gone on a proper one for a while. We didn't really have the money to go to a fancy restaurant or anything. Alex didn't want to ask you guys," Jack looked at Alex's parents. "Because you already pay half of his rent. And I didn't want to ask you," Jack turned to look at his parents. "Because you'd ask what I wanted that money for. And as I said, we wanted to keep the joke going. But then we decided to get all of you to set us up on a 'blind' date, because we were getting slightly desperate. So, yeah. we've been dating for nearly four years now." Jack explained. "That took longer to explain than I thought it would."

Both sets of parents - and May - looked a little bit shocked. Honestly, Jack was surprised that they didn't even have suspicions that he and Alex were together. Jack spent more time at Alex's than he did his own home. But then again, Jack's parents didn't really care about where he was going anymore, and as Alex lived on his own, his parents didn't know what he was doing half the time.

"Oh." The first response came from Jack's father. "Who knew teenagers could keep a relationship that strong for that amount of time."

"Again, Dad, we're in our twenties." Jack responded.

"Yes, but you were teenagers when the relationship started."

"Well, yeah. But we were nearly adults at that point."

"Can I stop recording now?" May asked.

"Yeah, go on then." Jack nodded at May. Him and Alex had only wanted the immediate reactions from everyone.

"Hey, we should add that video to a DVD or something cheesy like that." Alex whispered to Jack.

"That's a good idea."

"I'm full of them." Jack rolled his eyes at Alex's response.

"Well, I think we need to go our house, and you boys need to tell us exactly how you got together." Jack's mother said. Jack looked at Alex, giving him a look that said ' _oh no_.' See, how Alex and Jack got together isn't exactly a PG-13 story. They all started walking back to the Barakat's' place, and Alex turned to Jack.

"Why do you look so worried, love? We can tell them the real story - they want to know. It's not like they can lecture us or anything. It was going on four years ago, and it's not like we were 'too young' to be going to parties. They let us go, they should've considered the consequences." Alex said, comforting his boyfriend. Jack laughed, realising that he shouldn't be so worried about this - he was being stupid.

"You're right. I just forget sometimes that our parents don't actually control what we do anymore. When I get a job and enough money to pay rent, I'm moving out as soon as I can." Jack replied.

"You do realise that you can just come and live with me, right?"

"What?"

"Jack, move in with me! It's not like our relationship is unstable, and we're practically together all the time as it is."

"You're serious?"

"Why wouldn't I be?"

"Then sure, as soon as I have enough money to pay the half of the rent that your parents are paying right now."

"God, I thought you were gonna say no."

"And why would I say no?"

"You were acting as if I was being silly!"

"In my defence, you joked about asking me out the first time."

"Yeah, but that was years ago. You know, it wasn't originally going to be a joke, but you looked as if you were about to say no, so I just panicked and said on the spot that I wasn't being serious."

"True, true. Also, why did you think I would say no? I was literally making out with you inside a closet for half and hour the night before."

"Yeah, but that could've been a one-time thing."

"Goddammit, Alex."

"At least I did it in the end - you were never even going to try."

"I'll give you that. I never would've had the guts."

"Exactly." Alex smirked at Jack, and they spent the rest of the walk to the car in silence.

Soon enough, everyone was back at the Barakat's house. Jack and Alex's parents made their sons sit on one couch, and the parents sat down on the other. May had decided to sit on the floor. It was almost like the adults had sat their kids down to have ' _the talk_.' It was actually pretty daunting.

"Alright, boys, explain." Jack's mother said. Jack looked at Alex - this was going to take a while, even if they did leave out some details.

\-----

_*Four years ago*_

_Jack and Alex had decided to go to one of those typical high school parties. They both knew that it would probably end in a lot of regret - hangovers, throwing up, probably accidentally kissing someone, forgetting the entire night - but it was an experience that everyone had to go through, right? As it turns out, it wasn't as much of a mistake as either of the boys thought it would be._

_"We should go and play some games, we can't just stand around the food all night." Jack tried to persuade Alex to leave the buffet - and the alcohol. Both of them were already a bit tipsy, but Alex was definitely more so than Jack. If he was being honest, Jack kind of just wanted to see Alex drunk - not to take advantage or anything, Jack just thought Alex would be cute when he was wasted._

_"Fine. But I get to choose what game we join!" Alex whined. Jack knew that his best friend would rather spend the whole night stuffing his face and drinking until he couldn't anymore, but Jack knew that he would be the one who had to deal with a sick and hungover Alex in the morning._

_"Okay, you can choose. Let's go." Knowing Alex, he'd choose a classic party game. Something like truth or dare, paranoia, or spin the bottle. Jack was down to play anything, although he was slightly weary of the inevitable consequences - or did that just happen in movies? Jack didn't really know, he'd never played party games, he spent time talking to his friends._

_In the end, Alex chose to play whatever game Ryan and Kellin were playing. Neither Jack or Alex knew exactly what game it was, but they didn't care. They were were just there to have fun. It turned out to be a game of seven minutes in heaven. Jack sighed. Who was in this circle?_

_Jack made sure that he knew exactly who was participating in this game. Just to work out who he could end up making out with - or chatting with. Ryan, Alex, Dallon, Kellin, Vic, Tay, Hayley, Rian, Zack, and Ashley. All decent make-out material, if Jack was being completely honest. But there was only one person out of the lot that Jack wanted to make out with._

_"Okay! Vic's going first!" Ryan shouted, catching the attention of everyone in the small room they were all cooped up in. Alex and Jack exchanged a glance. They wanted the name that was pulled out of the hat to be Kellin. They'd been saying that Kellin and Vic would make a great couple for a few months now._

_"Hayley!" Ashley called out, reading off the piece of paper she had in her hands. Jack could see that Vic looked a little disappointed, but he wanted to be a part of the game in the first place, so he had to go along with it. Vic knew that. He stood up and walked over to Hayley._

_"Don't look so worried, Vic. We won't do anything of you seriously don't want to. We'll just have a chat, okay?" Hayley said quietly, as they went into the closet together. Vic visibly relaxed after she said that, whispering something that no one else could hear - but for those close enough to lip read, it seemed like he said he was sorry, and that he'd just never done something like this before._

_Those seven minutes that Hayley and Vic were in the cupboard were... strange for Jack - to say the least. Let's just say that Alex is a very touchy drunk. Jack could've sworn that Alex hadn't even drunk that much. Yes, Alex had been very tipsy, but Jack knew his friend hadn't been that drunk five minutes ago. The alcohol must have hit him now. Jack thought he was very cute._

_At the time that the party took place, Jack had kept his crush on Alex a secret - he'd known he'd had feelings for Alex for a few months. It didn't seem to effect Jack much, but the way that Alex kept putting his head on Jack's shoulder and wrapping his arms around Jack's waist gave him butterflies._

_No one else in the room seemed to see - or if they did, they didn't acknowledge anything - what was going on. Well, except Ryan. He smirked at Jack, and proceeded to write 'Alex' on multiple pieces of paper, before emptying the hat of everyone else's names, and putting the pieces of paper with Alex's name on in instead._

_In a way, Jack was grateful for that, but then he realised that Alex was more than a little drunk, and he wasn't going to remember anything - if anything was to happen. Not that Jack would do anything out of line while Alex was too out of his mind to comprehend what was going on. That would be stupid, and definitely not fair on Alex._

_Then, Jack came to another realisation. Alex only saw Jack as his best friend. God, who knew that the one place that Jack's feelings for Alex would show was at a stupid high school party? Alex was unable to even understand anything. That was just Jack's luck._

_"Time's up!" Someone yelled, and Hayley and Vic came out of the wardrobe, laughing about something or other. Jack noticed a small look of relief pass over Kellin's face. Jack could've punched the air. His and Alex's assumption was correct. Well, it's not like it wasn't blatantly obvious, even if neither Kellin or Vic had said anything._

_"Okay kids! Jack's next!" Ryan shouted, once again capturing the attention of everyone else in the room. Jack sighed a little, knowing exactly who he was going in that closet with. Not that he minded. It was who he wanted to go in anyways._

_"Jack, you're going in with..." Ashley reached for a piece of paper in the hat, eventually picking one out. "Alex!" Jack stood up, reaching his hand out to Alex. Once he was on his feet, Alex slumped against Jack, unable to support himself. How did Alex get himself this drunk?_

_"Please don't fuck in my parents' closet!" Someone yelled. Jack didn't know who it was, but Jack assumed that it was Tay. He was pretty sure that the party was at her house. He couldn't really remember. All Jack was given was the address._

_"I would never!" Jack yelled back, laughing. It sounded like a joke, but it was sincere. Jack was going no further than a conversation in there, unless Alex initiated something. In which case, Jack would go along with it to as far as making out. Again, Alex was drunk and probably wouldn't remember anything in the morning. It would just be a normal chat. At least, that's what Jack thought._

_The door was shut after them, and Alex made a few noises, trying to sit down in a somewhat comfortable position. That deemed pretty much impossible, seeming as the space inside the closet was quite cramped. It was easy for Hayley and Vic, who were no taller than 5'5._

_Alex ended up sitting on Jack's lap. Jack came to the conclusion that Alex had just got annoyed with trying to find a decent and comfortable space to sit in, so he just sat on Jack. Jack knew knew that he was going to have dead legs after this. Oh well, it was definitely worth it. Jack wrapped his arms around Alex, and lent back against the side of the closet._

_"I wish it was lighter in here. I can't see your face." Alex huffed, twisting his body slightly so that he was looking up at Jack. Well, as much as he could 'look' at someone in a pitch-black closet. Jack just shook his head in response._

_"We don't need to see each other to chat, 'Lex. It's fine like this, even though this is very uncomfortable." Jack responded. He moved his arms so they were in a more comfortable position around Alex - which proved to be quite difficult, because he had decided to move into a pretty odd position._

_"Yeah, but your face is pretty." Alex pouted slightly. Jack thought that was cute. He smiled at Alex, before realising what he'd actually said. He thought Jack's face was pretty?_

_"What?"_

_"I said: your face is pretty. I want to be able to see it."_

_"Well, we're in a dark closet. I don't know what you want me to do about it, 'Lex."_

_"Hm. Maybe you should kiss me to make up for it?"_

_"What?" Jack felt the heat rise to his cheeks._

_"Are you going deaf? I said you should kiss me."_

_"Not deaf, just making sure I heard you right."_

_Jack couldn't say anything else after that, because Alex had already managed to kneel between Jack's legs and grabbed his face. Jack didn't protest, but he knew that the seven minutes was nearly up. Oh well, it would only be a quick kiss._

_Jack couldn't have been more wrong, if he was being honest. Alex pressed his lips to Jack's, and he didn't hesitate for a second before kissing back. Jack thought it was pretty intense, and it also ended up with hands in places that they definitely shouldn't be for 'just friends.' The boys must have been kissing for longer than Jack thought, because he saw light appear, and then heard a gasp. Jack pulled away from Alex, giving Vic (who was the one who had opened the closet) a smile and a shrug. Jack wasn't worried about it - Alex wouldn't remember this in the morning. It was a game. It was a one time thing. It wouldn't happen again._

_It turns out that Jack was wrong about that one too._

_Jack and Alex decided to leave the party after a couple of other games - which had ended up being pretty tedious, as everyone was stupidly drunk and seemed unable to actually play the games without getting severely distracted and forgetting what they were originally doing (including Alex). They walked back to Jack's house, knowing that his parents wouldn't really care that they were a bit drunk - they were somewhat responsible, they weren't doing anything downright stupid._

_Alex tried to crawl on top of Jack and kiss him again once they got to the latter's room, but Jack pushed him off - no matter how much Jack wanted to kiss him like he did at the party again._

_"What?" Was the last one really that bad?" Alex pouted, still trying to grab hold of Jack's face._

_"No, 'Lex. It was amazing, but this can't happen while you're drunk." Jack said, holding onto Alex's wrists, so that he was no longer waving them around._

_"Why not?"_

_"You have no idea what you're doing. I don't even know if sober Alex would want to do that."_

_Alex nodded, and within a few minutes, he was asleep. Jack knew that, in the morning, Alex wouldn't remember any of that, but he'd also have a splitting headache from the hangover, so Jack went downstairs and grabbed some aspirin from the medicine cabinet and a glass of water. It was four in the morning by now; they'd be up in four or five hours._

_When Jack woke up the next morning, Alex had already had the pills that Jack had left out for him, and he was currently laying face-down on the floor._

_"You okay there?" Jack asked, smiling at Alex - even though the latter couldn't see._

_"Yes." A muffed voice came from the floor. "What even happened?"_

_"You'd know if you weren't such a lightweight."_

_"Shut up, I've only drunk that much a couple of times before."_

_"And so have I. You're just weak."_

_"No I'm not!" Alex stood up. "How much did I have anyways?"_

_"Not a clue. But really not that much. Definitely not enough to warrant how drunk you were."_

_"Damn." Alex laughed and ran his fingers through his already messy hair. "Maybe I am a lightweight."_

_"I told you so." Jack said, standing up and pulling a hoodie on. He decided he'd just stay in the sweatpants he'd slept in. He wasn't going anywhere that day._

_"What did we do last night?"_

_"Went to a party."_

_"Yeah, no shit Sherlock. I meant what did we actually do there."_

_"Calm down, I was just joking." Jack laughed at Alex's expression - he looked kind of pissed off, but also like he was about to start laughing. Jack didn't even know if that was a real emotion._

_"i told you so." i said, standing up and pulling a hoodie on. i'll just stay in the sweatpants i slept in. i wasn't going anywhere that day._

_"Tell me what we did, asshole!" Alex said, attempting to throw a pillow at Jack - but he couldn't even pick it up off the floor - causing Jack to laugh once again._

_"We made out in a closet."_

_"We- What?"_

_"We made out in a closet." Jack was trying to keep a straight face. He knew it was going to break soon, though; Alex had gone from a pissed-off-but-happy expression to a confused one._

_"Wh- Why? I mean, was there a reason for that? Or did we both get drunk and start making out?" Jack was pretty much laughing at Alex's confusion again by this point._

_"Long story short, you wanted to play a game, you chose seven minutes in heaven, the alcohol hit once we had sat down in the circle. You were being very affectionate towards me - you're very cute when you're drunk, by the way - and Ryan saw that, and he rigged the game. We ended up in the closet together, and you wanted to make out with me, so we did. By the time we'd sat down and got comfortable, there was only about three or four minutes left. We played a couple of other games - nothing really happened, they were kind of boring - and then we walked back here. You wanted to make out again once we got into bed, but I stopped it at the point. A harmless party game is way different from that, to be honest. And, uh, however nice that make out session was, I wasn't going to take advantage of you like that."_

_"Sounds intense. Funny, though. I always thought you'd be the one to initiate make out sessions if we were dating." Alex had gone a bit red by this point - he was a bit embarrassed about his actions from last night. In all honesty, though, Jack didn't mind - he'd quite enjoyed it, actually._

_"You've thought about us dating?"_

_"No- I mean. Well, yes."_

_"To be honest, me too."_

_"Then, uh, do you want to be my boyfriend?"_

_"No jokes this time?"_

_"No jokes this time."_

_"Maybe 'no jokes this time' will be our always."_

_"Shut up, nerd."_

_"I won't be your boyfriend if you talk to me like that."_

_"Answer the question, I'm kind of stressing over here."_

_"Yes, idiot. I'll be your boyfriend."_

_"i won't be your boyfriend if you talk to me like that."_

_"answer the question."_

_"yes, i'll be your boyfriend."_

\-----

"So, yeah. That's the story, pretty much." Alex finished off. That was a hell of a lot of talking. "Oh, and by the way, Jack's moving in with me."

"What?" Jack's mum looked shocked.

"Not straight away, don't worry." Jack started to explain. "After I get a job and can pay for the other half of the rent."

"So, basically, once Jack gets a job, we don't have to pay for your apartment anymore?" Alex's father asked.

"Yeah." Alex confirmed.

To be honest, it felt weird to Alex and Jack, now that their parents knew that they were dating. They'd kept it a secret for so long. When everyone settled down to watch a movie, it felt almost unnatural for them to cuddle up together on the sofa, even though they'd done it countless times before - even in Jack's living room. Alex whispered in Jack's ear, telling him that he also felt weird about this. Jack told him that they'd just have to get used to it eventually.


End file.
